I'm a little late getting this out as May really snuck up on me. At any rate I've got another great article today from Scottie Claiborne on four different personality types that you typically market to on the Internet. There is also another Q&A session related to popular search engine marketing and optimization topics. We will cap it all of with some of the top headlines from the search industry that occurred in April. With no further ado, let's get into it.

In this issue...

• SEM/SEO QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
• FEATURE ARTICLE - MOTIVATING YOUR WEB SITE VISITORS TO TAKE ACTION: PERSONALITY TARGETING
• SEARCH ENGINE HEADLINES
• CLOSING COMMENTS

SEM/SEO QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Here are some SEM/SEO related questions that I answered which were originally posted on forums of which I am part of the moderation team.

Q: I find it hard to follow big search engines like Yahoo, Google, MSN, etc. They change from time to time the criteria to be listed on top and your site listings fluctuates accordingly. So you've to keep updating your SEO to catch up with them. Isn't there any other better ways to get more traffic rather than running in the track along with so many webmaster fighting for that no.1 rank in the listings?

A: Rather than chasing algorithms, concentrate your efforts on making your site better than any one of your competitors. If your site is the best of its kind, then many a time it will be rewarded by search engines that coveted top positioning.

PPC ads are another option that will allow you to dictate which terms you want visibility for as well as where you will appear. Of course this requires a marketing budget but it can be well worthwhile.

Also do not forget to seek out opportunities to place text ads on highly relevant sites that offer them. These can bring much traffic your way as well.

Q: I'm trying to optimize a website, and I was wondering how many keywords I should optimize the website for and if I should only do one page for each one or two keywords.

A: I usually try to target one, maybe two phrase per page only because of the limitation of characters in a title tag that a search engine will index. I often find however that a page can rank well for all sorts of variations of keywords and phrases simply because they exist in the content of that page itself.

Q: Is it bad to duplicate information in meta description tags or in page text?

At the moment, all the description tags on our site say the same thing. I'll go in and change all the significant ones, but there are lots of insignificant pages that I'd rather not have to edit too, if it's not necessary.

Also, we have several pages that all have very little text and very similar content. I'm thinking of adding some body text to them for search engines to catch on to - but could it defeat the object if there were about 6 pages with broadly similar text, just a few words different.

Thanks, Lucy

A: The basic idea of having unique meta description tags for each page is to expand the overall visibility or reach of the site - the more topics, keywords, etc., they represent, the more chances of being found in all sorts of search queries. That being said, having several duplicate meta descriptions is not going to necessarily hurt you but it won't help either.

The same is true of content on your pages.

Q: It looks like I was penalized by Yahoo. I looked at their guidelines and think I have found the reason. I've made what I think are the necessary changes. My question is this, how long does everyone think it will take for my site to get re-indexed fully. I checked the "popularity" of the site on the Yahoo directory (it is not in the English directory but is on all the Spanish ones) and I rank very well.

A: If you have indeed been banned or penalized, write them at reportsearchspam@yahoo-inc.com and explain what you think you did, that you have now corrected it and are asking them to re-include your site.

FEATURE ARTICLE - MOTIVATING YOUR WEB SITE VISITORS TO TAKE ACTION

Introduction - Scottie Claiborne contributes this month's feature article which explores four different personality types you might deal with on the web and how with a little creativity you can actually build a site that appeals to all types.  Her company, Right Click Web Services, specializes in usability, search engine optimization, and Internet marketing. So with no further ado, here's Scottie.

Motivating Your Web Site Visitors To Take Action: Personality Targeting by Scottie Claiborne

The theory that I'm presenting in this article is a based on a variation of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Kiersey Temperament Sorters. The idea behind personality targeting is that people are generally motivated to different degrees by the following four qualities:

Power / Status
Competition / Cutting Edge
Connectedness / Community
Money / Price

So how do you decide which type to target? Well, you can either pick one type and go after those customers or try to cover all the bases in some way with your site. It's easier than you think.

Here's a rundown on the different personality types and some ideas on how to appeal to your specific audience.

Power / Status:
People who fall into this category want to be seen as important people. They look for products and services that reinforce that image. Targeting this group is great if you're selling high-value items. Try to position your product/service/message as an important, prestigious thing. Celebrity endorsements are given a lot of weight with this crowd. These people generally have newer computer equipment and run the latest operating system versions, so you have a little more leeway when using different technologies in your site design such as JavaScript and DHTML.

A website designed to appeal to the power/status segment should be very professional, and the copywriting should convey a tone of exclusiveness. Prices may not be published; after all, if you have to ask...! Examples would be high-end automobiles, wedding photographers, fundraising balls, etc.

Competition / Cutting Edge:
People in this group are fashion-forward dressers, video-gamers and technology enthusiasts. They seek challenge and creativity. High-ticket items are no problem for this crowd since they are willing to pay a premium to get what they want before the rest of the market. A sales message to these people should emphasize the latest, greatest, fastest and the most unique features of the offering.

This group also has newer equipment and the latest browser. Your website design might feature more "bells and whistles" such as flash animation, DHTML/JavaScript mouseovers, demos and movies. Colors and design may be slightly unsettling and cutting edge -- meant to be noticed. Customization, personalization and "skins" appeal to these customers. Examples of companies who would target this group would be electronics sites, website designers, art galleries, etc.

Connectedness / Community:
Those that fall into this group are the caretakers of the world. They worry about the environment, community issues, friends and family. They like familiar, accepted things. They are likely to wait until an item becomes a commodity that is in wide use before adopting it. Their browser and equipment are probably older, but still functional. A website catering to this crowd should emphasize content and advice and have simple navigation and a logical layout. The more information, the better. A comforting, simple color scheme is also important.

Recognition of events that affect our lives (e.g., 9-11, the Space Shuttle disaster) is appropriate and appreciated by this group. High-value items can be sold to this group if they are positioned correctly. They are glad to pay more for items that are environmentally-friendly or family-friendly, for example. This group likes it when you remember who they are the next time they visit, so website personalization can be helpful when targeting them. Some companies who would target this group might be "Made in the USA" products, Internet picture frame companies, chambers of commerce, etc.

Money / Price:
There are plenty of people in the world who shop by price alone, and for them you need to offer specials and discounts. Make it easy for them to buy so they don't wander off and find your products/services cheaper elsewhere. These people need to be grabbed and called to action when they first visit your site.

For the price-conscious, limited-time offers are a good motivator. A site design for them should make it easy for them to find what they're looking for, along with good information and prices. Be sure to include a site-search function and create the site so that it loads quickly and without gimmicks. Things like pop-up windows or slow-loading animations irritate this group and will make them leave. A huge plus for this group is a feature comparison chart. They also appreciate signing up for a newsletter that will notify them when items are on sale.

A fancy design could put this crowd off because they don't want to pay for *your* marketing. Bright, active colors work well. Examples of the type of sites that might target these people are software companies, printer ink sales, cell phones, etc.

It is easy to focus on one personality type with your design, layout and copy, but with a little creativity you can actually build a site that appeals to all four types. When outlining the content for any given page of your site, try writing a heading and a paragraph that would appeal to each type. Better yet, try linking to a page where you can write copy that specifically speaks to that particular personality type. This way, those interested can click to the exact information they're looking for!


Scottie Claiborne is the owner of Right Click Web Services, a firm specializing in usability, search engine optimization, and internet marketing.

SEARCH ENGINE HEADLINES

Here are some of the latest headlines related to the search engine industry.

Yahoo Offers Up 10 Million Free Ads in Contest
Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and Yahoo unveiled a contest for small-business owners on Thursday, offering 10 million free ads on the Yahoo network to the winning entrepreneur who "thinks big."

Google Personalizes the Web
Say goodbye to bookmarks: Google has rolled out a seriously cool search history feature that automatically keeps track of all of your web searches and every page that you view from search results.

Infospace Signs Search Distribution Agreement with MSN
Infospace Search & Directory, a leading Web search and online directory services provider and a business of InfoSpace, Inc. (NASDAQ:INSP), today announced a two-year agreement to add results from MSN Search, the first-ever search engine built from the ground up by Microsoft, to Infospace's search offering.

AOL Plans to Move Offerings Outside its "Walled Garden" and Onto the Web
America Online helped the United States discover the Internet. But millions have learned to surf the Web without it, and the world's biggest Internet service provider is reinventing itself in a bid to become competitive again.

CLOSING COMMENTS
We have another child who has graduated to adulthood. That's right! My son, Andrew, turned 18 this last weekend. He is now a full-fledged adult. Part of me is sad because my boy is growing up into a man. This also means that I am getting old. Another part of me is happy because I can now give him the boot if he messes up. Just kidding. He actually is a great kid. Andrew has one more year of high school left and will be playing varsity football next year. After that, he can decide what he wants to do in life and we of course will support him in that.

One more to go. My youngest is 16. My oldest will be turning 21 later this year and has already moved out. We are almost done raising kids. Yay! Soon it will be time for grandkids. Did I just say that? Wow, grandkids. Now I really feel old. ;-)

Have an awesome May and I will see you next month!